Naruto: Ninja of the Soul
by The Shadow Flamed Kyuubi
Summary: Brutally tortured after completing the Bell Test, Naruto awakens a bloodline with untold potential. With his new bloodline, Naruto swears to work hard and become a Shinobi capable of protecting those precious to him. Strong!Naruto, Loyal!Team 7, Naruto x Male Harem.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money writing or posting this fanfiction.

**Prologue – UNTIE ME!**

"God Dammit!"

A loud voice echoed through the air of Training Ground 7, towards three people as they walked away, into the forest that surrounded the large clearing in the middle of the training grounds. Struggling against the ropes that bound him, Naruto Uzumaki, recently graduated Academy Student, and just cleared Genin, tried to break free from the log he was tied to. His struggle was in vain though, the ropes having been tied by his new Jōnin Sensei, Kakashi Hatake.

Who coincidentally was currently leaving the training ground, followed by Naruto's two teammates, who had also just been cleared to be Genin. Sasuke Uchiha, the last surviving loyal member of the Famous Uchiha Clan, and Sakura Haruno, the first ninja in her family, a fan-girl of Sasuke, and Naruto's crush. The tree of them were walking away together, leaving Naruto tied helplessly to the log he'd been bound to mid-way through the test Kakashi had given them.

"I knew this would happen!" screamed Naruto loudly as his team walked away, ignoring him even as he shouted even louder, eyes wide with anger as he struggled more and more, "UNTIE ME!"

But it was no use, Naruto watched in complete despair as Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke all left his sight, heading into the forest to leave the training ground. As he lost sight of them, Naruto's shouts finally died and he simply stared into the forest ahead of him, unable to believe they would do this to him. This was his Team? A Sensei who lied about the test, tricked them and pitted them against each other...and two teammates who couldn't stand him, and treated him like dirt.

The most amazing thing about it all, was that Kakashi had passed them, and spouted a line about Teamwork. Before walking away leaving him tied up like this, how was this teamwork? Naruto felt a tear slide down his cheek, over the whisker marks that stood out against his dirt-covered skin. He sniffled for a second and quickly pushed aside his emotions as he'd done countless times, with a sigh he began to squirm and shift against the log, working to loosen the ropes that bound him.

Not many knew it, but Naruto wasn't the foolish, hyperactive blond knucklehead he appeared to be. It was an act he put on to appease the villagers and Council that had people follow him, certain that at any moment he would show his true colors as the Kyuubi. Kyuubi, the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, greatest of the Bijū. Sealed inside him by the Fourth Hokage at birth, Naruto had lived with it his whole life, and the hate of his village just as long.

Some days he wondered why he even bothered, why he worked so hard to convince the village he wasn't the Kyuubi reborn. Any other Jinchūriki treated like him, would snap and destroy those who hurt them, but he refused to do so. His parents, whoever they had been, had loved this village, and protected it with their lives. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, or Jiji as Naruto called him, had promised him that his parents would have loved and been proud of him. That, combined with the few people that saw Naruto as himself, kept him from just giving up and leaving Konoha.

Because of those few people, he put up with everything, everything the village did to him. People, civilian and ninja alike, attacking him in the streets. Stores; tailors, hospitals, general stores, blacksmiths, restaurants, all of them refusing to serve him, or at best, selling him their worst products, rusted weapons, rotten food. The hated stares, the cruel whispered words, high rent for a broken apartment, everything...

But still, he lived each day with a smile on his face. Only those closest to him knew that it was a mask, a mask straining to be maintained, that he was barely holding together. The Hokage tried his best, but even he couldn't protect Naruto all the time, and without knowing who he could trust, every time he ordered someone to protect Naruto for him, he chanced them outright attacking him, or leaving him to the mobs that formed.

_'Ugh...stupid Sensei! Why'd the damn Scarecrow have to make these ropes so tight...' _thought Naruto to himself in annoyance.

He'd been struggling this whole time, and still Naruto hadn't been able to get out of the ropes. He supposed this meant that despite how lazy his new Sensei appeared to be, Kakashi was at least skilled, which Naruto was thankful for. Sighing Naruto decided to try a new strategy, and stretched out his right hand, down towards his ankle holster. He knew he had one kunai left, now if only he could reach it, he could use the dull thing to at least start fraying the ropes to weaken them.

"Well look at this...how nice," a dark voice echoed out from around the clearing, "Someone left us a tied up gift."

Naruto's head snapped up, and he swore violently in his mind at the sight that greeted him. The whole clearing was full of people, he could see a bunch of villagers, and ninja of various rankings. Scanning the crowd he gazed into various sets of eyes, at the postures of their bodies, and knew that this wasn't going to end well. The villagers were armed with weapons, and the ninja looked like they were ready to attack an enemy nin.

"It seems your new Sensei left you all wrapped up for us Demon," said the same voice from before.

Naruto's gaze snapped to his right, to see a ninja leaning against the log to his right. He felt his eyes widen immediately at the sight of the ninja, not because he was carrying some huge weapon, or looked any more angry then anyone else. But because the ninja was wearing an Anbu Mask, Owl, the Anbu that had been assigned to his protection this month by the Hokage. It had been years since an Anbu had betrayed the Hokage to attack him, but those attacks had always been the worst.

"Let me out of here! I haven't done anything wrong!" screamed Naruto, glaring at Owl, "I'm not a Demon you ASS!"

Owl laughed darkly, "Oh?" the Anbu took a step forward, and traced a kunai along Naruto's whisker marks, cutting into them and causing Naruto to wince in pain. "Not a Demon you say?" he questioned casually.

Owl stepped back, and with a gloved hand twisted Naruto's head around, letting the watching crowd see the small cut on his cheek slowly press back together as it healed. Owl stabbed the kunai into Naruto's shoulder, getting a short scream of pain from the boy, before he slammed his mouth shut, choking on his scream and glaring up at Owl.

"You won't convince any of us Demon Fox, we all know you've tricked the Hokage into believing you, but we aren't fooled," snarled out Owl, dragging the kunai down, cutting into Naruto's arm deeply. "Today we'll get out revenge for all our loved ones you killed, for everything you did to our village Kyuubi!" screamed Owl, ripping his kunai out brutally.

Naruto couldn't stop his scream this time, and with a howl of pain he struggled harder against the ropes that had bound him. He didn't know what he was going to do, with Owl turning out to be traitor, no one was here to protect him. Worse yet, Training Ground 7 was near the outskirts of Konoha, away from anyone who would casually be passing by. With no one to get help, and Owl attacking him rather then warning the Hokage, Naruto was on his own.

"P-pl-please," whispered Naruto softly, "I'm not Kyuubi."

Naruto knew it was useless though, there was no point in trying to convince anyone of his innocence, all they saw in him was the Kyuubi. True to his thoughts, Owl didn't even answer, instead he simply smashed his fist into Naruto's face. Naruto's head smashed back into the log from the force of the hit, the bones in his nose breaking, and his teeth cutting into his gums. Blood flowing from his nose and teeth, Naruto glared up at Owl angrily, struggling harder against his binds.

Naruto struggled harder and harder, using all his strength to try and escape his bonds, but it was no use. The only good news was that Owl had stopped, letting the others in the mob take their own turns. Naruto was used to being attacked and beaten, torture...torture was another story all together. Owl stood to the side, and whenever a civilian found their way to in front of Naruto, he would guide them on the best way to damage him. The rest of the Ninja in the crowd didn't need such help, they each had their own favorite ways of attacking the defenseless young genin.

For hours it continued, a beating...no, a torture...beyond anything Naruto had ever experienced...

Weapons of all kinds; kunai, senbon, swords, steel knuckles, and more. Were stabbed, slashed and cut into him, leaving deep wounds that not even the heightened healing given to him by Kyuubi could heal, before they were retraced. Fire burned him, earth crushed him, water suffocated him, and air scared him as the ninja in the crowd unleashed Ninjutsu after Ninjutsu on him, the elements coming together to torture like never before.

As the hours passed, Naruto's screams faded, and he stopped fighting and struggling. Blood flowed from wounds all over his body, his hair matted down with it, his clothing torn and destroyed, plain scars, and cruel words carved into his flesh. His breathing slow and shallow, Naruto had stopped thinking, his mind fleeing from the cruelties inflicted on him. Until he was suddenly brought back to the present when a kunai was stabbed into his shoulder once more, his head snapped up as he gurgled on his own blood.

Owl stood over him, and after a second his cruel dark voice echoed from behind his mask, "Today we rid ourselves of you Kyuubi, know that the pain you have suffered is nothing compared to what you inflicted on us."

Owl ripped his kunai from Naruto's shoulder, and stepped back, making sure Naruto could see him as he moved forward. With a loud cry of victory he stabbed forward, kunai striking towards Naruto's heart, intent to kill the cause of his families death once and for all. Naruto's eyes fell closed, and his breathing slowed to an all-time slow, his mind blanking as he awaited the death he knew was coming, images flashing across his brain, of the few happy times he'd enjoyed.

It might have been a bad life, but he had lived his best, and had made a few friends. As the darkness began to swallow him, Naruto couldn't help but feel content for the first time in a long time, perhaps in death he would get the things he missed in life. His mother was waiting for him in the beyond, and one day...probably soon cause of his age, Sarutobi-Jiji would join him. He wondered, would Jiji avenge his death? Would Iruka, who he'd finally grown close to, would the man he considered his Father-Figure miss him? Naruto's blood covered face shifted, of course Iruka would miss him, so would Jiji, and Ayame and her Dad Teuchi. Naruto couldn't help it, he smiled.

The kunai struck...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Hiruzen Sarutobi, The Third Hokage, The Professor, swore violently as he blazed across the roofs of Konoha, chakra flowing through his limbs as he propelled himself rapidly towards Training Ground 7. Beside him Kakashi Hatake, and his two Anbu Bodyguards, Tiger and Cat surged after him, their chakra filled with worry and concern just like his. It was an amazing sight for the villagers, few could remember their calm Hokage ever looking so worried before.

Hiruzen had been in his office only moments ago, going over the paper work handed in by this cycles Jōnin Sensei, analyzing their reports, and committing to memory the teams that had passed and those that had failed. It was the arrival of Kakashi Hatake, the new Jōnin Commander of Team 7 that had spurred his need to leave his office though, and had sent his worry sky rocketing. He couldn't believe the former Anbu was so careless, had his time away from young shinobi truly been so long ago?

Kakashi had come into his office, hours after all the other Jōnin had reported in of course, and Hiruzen had been anxious to hear what had happened to Team 7. Naruto was on the team, and he was praying Kakashi's failing streak had finally been broken. Though he wasn't able to show it, Naruto was like a grandson to him, nearly as much as his own blood grandson, Konohamaru. When Kakashi had entered the office, he put aside everything he was doing, and ordered a report.

A report that was fresh in his mind...

_Flashback no Jutsu_

"_Kakashi, Report."_

_Hiruzen's voice was stern and strict, this wasn't coming from the friendly old man that enjoyed chatting with his Jōnin to see how they were doing, but an order from the Hokage. Kakashi snapped to attention at the tone of his Hokage's voice, book disappearing into a pocket of his vest, body straightening, and all his attention focusing on his duty._

"_Hokage-Sama, Team 7 successfully passed their exam," intoned the veteran shinobi._

_Hiruzen let out a sigh of relief, and his presence faded faintly, returning to the more benevolent kindness he normally excluded. With a smile he gestured for Kakashi to sit down, the Jōnin immediately doing so. Leaning back against his chair, Hiruzen laced his fingers together and rested his head on top of his entwined hands, looking across his desk at Kakashi._

"_Tell me how they did, and you're opinions," said Hiruzen casually._

_Kakashi nodded, his one visible eye glazing over a little as he spoke, "I used my normal introduction to the Bell Test, Sasuke and Sakura immediately fled to the woods to hide, well Naruto challenge me without thought."_

_Hiruzen listened as Kakashi explained what had happened, using his sharp senses, and knowledge of the lazy Jōnin to pick through his words to the truth of what the man had experienced. He understood that Sasuke Uchiha was a skilled Genin, capable of becoming a great shinobi if trained slowly, and not simply given things. Kakashi also seemed to recommended the last Uchiha undergo a small amount of therapy, worried for his students seemingly indifferent attitude to everything but becoming stronger._

_Sakura Haruno, who had received high scores on all the written tests, and average on the practical had disappointed the skilled Jōnin. Failing to see through a simple Genjutsu, she hadn't shown any talent or drive to show any real skill, simply following Sasuke around like a lost puppy. To further make her unworthy in Kakashi's eyes, she had abandoned Naruto who was right in front of her, in an attempt to aide Sasuke instead._

_Hiruzen was most interested when Kakashi began to speak about Naruto. He listened with interest, and was pleased by what he heard, and the happiness he was hearing in Kakashi's voice, something that hadn't happened in a long time. Kakashi had been impressed with Naruto's determination, and angered by some of the things he'd seen, the Jōnin had easily been able to see that Naruto had been held-back and even sabotaged in his learning._

"_I think they will eventually be a great team, if they can all get their acts together," said Kakashi with his unique eye-smile._

"_I'm glad to hear that Kakashi," said Hiruzen with a smile, before frowning and questioning curiously, "Tell me, how do you plan to fix Naruto's problems from the Academy?" _

_Kakashi rubbed his gloved hands together, and the grin was easily visible under his mask as he spoke two words with total conviction, "Kage Bunshin." _

_Within a second Hiruzen's grin matched Kakashi's hidden one, the unique knowledge transfer ability of the Kage Bunshin would make Naruto's problems easy to fix, the young Jinchūriki would catch up to his classmates and fellow ninja in no time. Grinning he stood to his feet, Kakashi quickly rising at the same time out of respect._

"_I think Naruto could use a congratulatory dinner, I'll go to his apartment," said Hiruzen grabbing his wallet from a drawer in his desk, already imagining how empty it would be when he returned. Turning he caught sight of a slightly pale Kakashi, and raised an eyebrow curiously as he questioned, "What is it Kakashi?"_

"_Hokage-Sama...I...I left Naruto at the training ground," answered the Jōnin nervously._

"_Hm?" Hiruzen blinked in confusion, "He would have simply gone home Kakashi, worry not."_

_Kakashi paled a little more, and nervously admitted what he'd done to the Hokage._

"_YOU WHAT!?"_

_Flashback no Jutsu...KAI!_

Hiruzen blazed from tree to tree as he rushed towards the training ground, fists clenched in worry for his adoptive grandson. Kakashi had left him tied to a log, in retaliation to the eraser prank from the other day, planning of course to release him later. The Jōnin hadn't even taken into consideration what he was doing, leaving a Genin, especially Naruto, alone like that, defenseless. Worse yet, Owl hadn't reported back with Kakashi, which to Hiruzen meant only one thing...

Breaking through the barrier of tree's, his heart almost stopped at the sight that greeted him. A mob practically filled the clearing of the training ground twenty...maybe thirty people, even some of his ninja, and at the very center, was Owl. The Anbu he'd assigned to protect Naruto, was charging forward with a kunai held in his gloved hands, towards the middle of three logs. Tied to it was a beaten and bloodied form, barely recognizable as Naruto.

Hiruzen's years of experience came to the front immediately, that angle would cause the kunai to pierce Naruto's heart, something he wasn't sure even Kyuubi could heal. With speed that defied his age, Hiruzen appeared in front of Owl, kunai stabbing into his hand even as his two Anbu bodyguards appeared at either side of the traitorous Anbu, holding him still. A crackling sound filled the air, and Kakashi appeared knelt in front of the Hokage, hand halfway extended, resting an inch away from Owl's heart, covered in lightning.

"Hokage-Sama!?" exclaimed Owl in shock and surprise, before his voice growled and echoed, "Move! I'll kill the Demon once and for all, and free you from Kyuubi's control!"

"Stand down," ordered Hiruzen, his voice cold.

Owl didn't even think about obeying, with a snarl he ripped his Anbu mask from his face, revealing an aged face, practically foaming at the mouth with rage. "I'll kill the Kyuubi! You won't stop me!" he shouted out, spitting in Hiruzen's face.

"Kakashi..." Hiruzen's voice echoed even colder than before.

Owl gasped out in pain, and looked down in shock. Kakashi's hand was stabbed through his chest, coming out the other side, still covered in lightning as he glared up at the Anbu, visible eye ice cold. With a sickening sound that no civilian there would ever forget, Kakashi pulled his hand out, and Owl dropped to the ground lifeless. Kakashi stood and appeared at the Hokage's side, two Anbu body guards joining him in a blur of speed as they surrounded their Hokage.

"All of you," said Hiruzen, his voice cold and disappointed. "All of you had a part in this...I can see the weapons in your hands, weapons you used on a defenseless boy of twelve," whispered the aged Hokage, his voice echoing over the assembled mob.

"Ignore him, the Demon's controlling him!"

"Let's finish what the Fourth started!"

"One more hit will kill the Fox, they can't stop us all!"

"Kill the Kyuubi!"

Shouts and screams echoed from the formed mob, and for once Hiruzen felt every bit his age. None of them felt regret for what they'd done, and were about to try to finish it. He knew that he would die before he let a single one of them hurt Naruto, his adopt...no...his grandson couldn't survive another wound, and it appeared Kyuubi was already barely sustaining him. With a grim determination he flared his killing intent, and pulled a kunai from within his robes.

"Anyone who moves for Naruto, kill them," ordered Hiruzen coldly.

**...ba...bu...mp...**

Kakashi raised his headband, revealing a spinning sharingan, even as he pulled two kunai and held one loosely in each hand. Cat stepped forward and pulled out a short tantō, standing beside Kakashi and the Hokage, ready to obey his orders without question. Tiger was also moving, flowing backwards he stood in front of Naruto, chakra flowing through his body as he prepared to strike down any who dared approach him.

"KILL THE DEMON!"

With a loud roar, the mob went charging forward, civilian and ninja alike rushing to kill the demon hiding behind their Hokage. With a speed that defied his age, the Hokage cut down any who approached him, his anger for once had reached its breaking point, and he killed any that dared to hurt Naruto as they had. Beside him Kakashi, and Cat both did the same, soon half of the mob had fallen, the rest looked hesitant to attack.

But it didn't last long, with a new renewed roar they charged forward. Tiger was forced to step forward, as a ninja streaked past the Hokage, with a simple strike to the throat, he crushed the foolish Chūnin's throat, causing him to choke to death. The mob was thinned even more, until finally only the ninja seemed to remain, a handful of Chūnin, three Jōnin, and what Hiruzen could only identify as an Anbu, not wearing their mask.

"Stand down, that's an order," declared Hiruzen, not wanting to kill any more then his ninja then needed.

"That Demon has tricked you Hokage-Sama, but we will free you!" shouted out the assumed Anbu.

**BA...bump...**

Hiruzen sighed, and stepped forward prepared to enter what would be a much more difficult battle. As the various ninja began to gather their chakra, they were stopped as a loud echoing laugh filled the area. A screechy laugh that Hiruzen immediately knew could belong to only one person, sure enough, as he turned around he spotted distinctive pink hair. Standing in front of the bloodied and unconscious Naruto, was Saruika Haruno, Sakura's Mother, member of the Civilian Council.

"This is the end of the Demon Fox!" screamed Saruika, plunging the kunai forward. "DIE!"

With a loud screech, Saruika plunged the already bloodied kunai in her hand forward, right into Naruto's chest, and into his heart. Saruika laughed loudly, pushing the kunai in even deeper as Hiruzen and Kakashi could only stare in horror. Tiger blurred forward to try and drag her away, wondering how a civilian had snuck past him, when something happened. The faint sound that all the ninja had been hearing came back with a powerful force, they had all assumed it was simply their adrenaline making them hear their own hearts, but this time it was impossible to mistake.

It was coming from Naruto...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

**...ba**

_'Is this how I die?'_

**...bu**

_'I suppose it's not so bad, at least it doesn't hurt.'_

**...mp...**

_'I wonder if Mom will be mad I died so soon? Will she recognize me?'_

**BA...**

_'I hope I'm remembered...not for Kyuubi, but for myself.'_

**bump...**

_'It's funny...I'm not afraid.'_

**BA...**

_'It's not cold...or dark.'_

**BUMP...**

_'It's actually getting brighter...am I...going to Heaven?'_

**BA BUMP...**

_'Warmth...I feel warm?'_

**BA BUMP...!**

_'Is...is that my heart?'_

**BA BUMP!**

_'This feeling...I...I see...alright...I suppose one more try couldn't hurt.'_

**BA BUMP!**

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Saruika clutched to the kunai hilt in her hand, starring at the Demon's chest as it continued to rise up and down, undeterred by the kunai plunged into it's heart. She didn't understand, she had pierced the Demon's heart, how was it still breathing? Surely even a demon couldn't survive without it's heart?

A powerful force filled the clearing, and Saruika found she couldn't move, all around the clearing the others felt the same. Pinned to their spots, everyone watched in awe as a faint fiery red aura began to circle around Naruto, slowly growing wilder and wilder, spreading out and surrounding a good foot away from the log he was tied to. Saruika looked around her in shock, the aura flowing around her, warm...so warm.

A bright circle began to form at the edge of the aura, burning into the ground at it's edges. Saruika began to sweat, and steam began to rise from the ropes tying up Naruto, the log slowly beginning to char and burn. Saruika began to struggle, trying to let go of her kunai, to run away, but she couldn't move. The aura around them flicked and twisted, lines burning into the ground in a strange symbol, and a cough caught everyone's attention.

Naruto's bloody head lifted slowly, his mouth twitching, opening and closing slowly. Every inch as the brutally tortured youth lifted his head caused him to cough, blood flying from his mouth and splattering the ground, ropes, log, and Saruika as he choked on his own blood. But still Naruto continued to try and speak, as his head continued to rise, Saruika began to scream as her skin bubbled and boiled, the warmth burning away the grass beneath them.

The strange circled symbol on the ground glowed brightly...

Naruto's head stared ahead, eyes closed...

Naruto opened his mouth, his eyes opening, starring into nothingness...

"Gōitsu..."

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

**AN: **It begins...

Gōitsu – Union


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money writing or posting this fanfiction.

**Chapter 1 – Bloody Awakening**

_Naruto opened his mouth, his eyes opening, starring into nothingness..._

"_Gōitsu..."_

/ / / / /

A single word, filled with a strange power that the watching ninja, and panicking Saruika had never heard or felt before. Fire filled the air, an all-encompassing inferno exploding upwards from the symbol that had been burned into the ground, blocking those within it from view. Saruika's screams echoed out unseen, but only for a moment, before dying out within the roaring inferno. The fire pulsed and circled, twisted and turned, and those watching briefly wondered if Naruto had been consumed by it as well.

"Tch..."from within the flames, an annoyed scoff echoed, and a shadowy silhouette became visible deep within them.

The remaining attackers stared in horror, unable to believe that the Demon had survived such a powerful fire, but then remembered Kyuubi was a creature of flames, and grew more angry. But they stayed themselves from moving just yet, Saruika's screams still fresh in their minds, and the Hokage and his allies still in front of them, ready to block their attempts.

Even distracted by whatever was happening to Naruto, Hiruzen, Kakashi and his guards hadn't moved an inch. They stood firm in the paths of the Nin who had attacked, and tortured a young boy. Though worried for his grandson, Hiruzen refused to show it, and instead glared with a deadly stare at his traitorous ninja. He couldn't help but think to himself, had he truly become so disconnected? So lost that he couldn't protect those close to him from harm?

Everyone's attention was drawn back to the silhouette within the flames though, as it moved, one shadowy arm raising into the air across it's shadowed chest. "Hmm...he was right, these flames do sooth the pains of my soul," said the silhouette, voice raspy. The silhouette snapped his arm out with a flick, and the flames around him exploded outwards, dissipating into the air. As the flames faded away, the log that Naruto had been bound to was revealed, charred to a crisp, ropes nowhere in sight.

The only thing that remained within the flames, was the symbol that had been burned into the ground, and a strange figure that was obviously the silhouetted figure from within the flames. He was tall, reaching what had to be nearly 6'1", with brilliant crimson hair, the cascaded down past his neck in spiky clumps. His eyes where what really drew attention though, bright cerulean blue eyes starred out from the figures aristocratic face, pupils slit demonically.

The figure stood still for a moment, than began to stretch and shift, ignoring those watching him without a care in the world. His stretching drew attention to the rest of his body, the stranger's body was toned, he appeared extremely agile, with a thin layer of barely visible muscle on his frame. On his upper body was a badly torn and ripped black shirt, which flowed down into a pair of baggy, bloodied orange jumpsuit pants.

The baggy, bloodied jumpsuit pants weren't drawing the most attention though, it was what poked out the bottom of them that was. Where a ninja or civilian would normally be wearing their shoes, the strange figure wasn't wearing any, now that wouldn't be a problem, except it wasn't feet that were visible. The figure stood on the ground on a pair of furry clawed footpaws, covered in a dark orange-red fur, that flowed upwards, implying more than his feet were covered.

Uncaring of what anyone was currently noticing, or thinking for that matter, the figure was starring calmly at his right hand. His hand was normal, all the way until it reached the fingers, which were tipped with deadly looking sharp claws. With a sigh and a shake of his head, the figure turned towards his watchers and shrugged.

"This...is an...interesting feeling," he said, voice raspy and deep.

"Identify Yourself!" Hiruzen shouted out, already suspecting the answer, but unsure of how it was possible.

"Tch...foolish Nigen, names are so important to you," said the figure with a scoff, before turning to Hiruzen and bowing low, smirking as he straightened and spoke, "If you can't recognize me Jiji, than perhaps you have gone senile."

"NARUTO!" exclaimed Kakashi in sudden realization, starring at his transformed student in shock.

Naruto turned towards Kakashi, and after a second of starring at the Jōnin, nodded. "Correct," he intoned firmly, before chuckling and pointing at Kakashi with wide eyes, exclaiming loudly, "I thought you only had one eye Cyclops!"

Kakashi blinked, and began to laugh, the faint chuckle of two Anbu joining him a second later. Hiruzen meanwhile was starring at Naruto in shock, taking in the changes his grandson had apparently undergone. He was reassured by the way Naruto seemed to be acting, that despite how much it looked like Kyuubi may have taken over, it didn't have complete hold on the boy. But it was also apparent, by Naruto's stance and weary look under his cheerful bantering of Kakashi, that he was waiting, prepared to be attacked.

"DEMON!" shouted one of the Chūnin, appearing in front of Naruto in a cloud of leaves.

Kakashi, Hiruzen, Cat and Tiger all blurred forward, prepared to strike down the Chūnin before he could hurt Naruto. But they were all shocked to a stop as Naruto acted instead, clawed hand snapped out, wrapping around the Chūnin's gloved one, and throwing him over his shoulder with deceptive ease, and incredible force. The Chūnin flew a good few feet, and crashed down brutally atop the charred log Naruto had been tied to, which collapsed into ash from the Chūnin's limp weight.

Seeing their comrade defeated by the boy they had so easily been torturing earlier, spurred the remaining Chūnin and three Jōnin to all charged forward at once. Sharp slit eyes turned towards them, counting eleven attackers in total as they charged, he watched Kakashi, Jiji and the two Anbu turn to stop them, and scoffed mentally. He needed no help in dealing with this weak human trash, in a blur of superhuman speed he appeared in front of his protectors.

"Die," he intoned coldly, eyes cold as ice.

It was over before it even began, Naruto moved light lightning, striking down all eight Chūnin and three Jōnin who had attacked him. It happened so fast that Hiruzen, Kakashi, Tiger and Cat weren't able to help him, they could only watch in surprise as the transformed Genin struck down his attackers with brutal efficiency. He didn't kill them though, broken bones, ribs, snapped wrists, and internal bleeding were the worst of their injuries.

"This is the difference between us Nigen," said Naruto coldly, "Just like it was for you, every fiber of my being is telling me to kill you," Naruto's clawed hands twitched, dripping with blood from where he'd clawed across a Jōnin's face, "But I can control my instincts, unlike you."

Naruto turned away from them, facing the Hokage for a second before sighing and turning more. Everyone followed his gaze, and found themselves starring at the lone attacker remaining on the grounds. It was the one Hiruzen figured was an Anbu, the scar-faced Nin had remained behind, simply watching his apparent allies attack. Now that he was alone though, his chakra was rising, and he was preparing to attack.

"I can feel it..." Naruto trailed off, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the Nin, "Your hate, your rage...the malice that has filled your soul."

Naruto stared across the clearing at the Nin, and his eyes slowly began to glow an eerie white. Across from him the Nin shifted back as if struck, before recovering and beginning to walk forward towards Naruto, who wasn't moving an inch, and didn't even look ready to protect himself. He simply stared ahead at the Nin, eyes piercing into the man's very soul.

"Akira Narin," said Naruto softly, his voice echoing eerily, "So the Kyuubi killed your Little Brother, the last of your family, and now you wish for revenge by killing me."

Naruto's voice echoed eerily, but was firm, filled with...pure understanding.

"I see, so the Roots of Konoha gave you strength, but know this Narin-san, killing me will not bring back your Little Brother," said Naruto, shaking his head sadly.

Kakashi watched in shock as the normally hyper Naruto talked calmly to someone about to attack him, he had never heard Naruto sound so mature before, even in the times he'd protected the young boy as an Anbu. But then again, there was something different about Naruto, the transformation he'd undergone was both horrifying and impressive. Watching as Naruto decimated those ninja moments ago, it had been like watching his Sensei fight all those years ago.

Hiruzen who was also watching Naruto carefully, was slightly less shocked by Naruto's current personality. Long ago they'd talked and Naruto had confessed to using a mask to fool people, but even he had never seen this side of his grandson. It both scared and impressed him, Naruto acted more like a true ninja like this, but at the same time, Naruto was far too mature for his age, and it saddened him that his grandson already had such life experience.

"I will kill you Demon," said Akira as he began to pick up speed, "Not for the Root, not for all those that hate you...but for my BROTHER!"

Akira's howl of rage echoed and he charged at Naruto, closing the last few feet in a blur of speed, twin kunai slashing forward to cut through the exposed boy's throat. It was pointless though, Naruto's speed seemed nearly godlike as he tilted his head back, the exact right amount, for the kunai to cut through the air above him. In a blur he had disarmed the rage-filled Root-Nin, slammed an elbow into his chest to force him to keel over, and grabbed his head with two hands, bringing it down to meet his rapidly ascending knee. Blood filled the air, and Naruto let go of Akira, letting him tumble to the ground unconscious, face broken and bloodied.

With all his attackers disabled, Naruto turned back to face the Hokage, Kakashi, and the two Anbu with them. Taking a step towards them, Naruto suddenly stumbled and swayed, and then started to fall, collapsing towards the ground. Kakashi was beside him in a second, holding his young student up in worry, he felt horrible for what he'd caused to happen, and hoped the young boy would forgive him. Naruto let out a soft chuckle, and forced himself to straighten, leaning on Kakashi for support even as he spoke to him softly.

"There's nothing to forgive Kakashi-Sensei, everyone makes mistakes."

Kakashi's eyes widened, and remembering his sharingan was exposed he quickly lowered his headband to cover it. Holding up his student he helped him stumble over to Hiruzen, who was looking with a mixture of emotions, worried, shocked, awed, and many more. A few feet away from Hiruzen, Naruto suddenly slumped in Kakashi's arms, his form blurring and seeming to shatter into bright glowing shards that faded away into the air.

Left hanging weakly in Kakashi's arms, was a much more recognizable Naruto. But the transformation seemed to have left a few changes on him, the once short boy now stood at a much less stunted 4'10", and his short hair had lengthened to reach just a few inches past his shoulders. His slightly underfeed body was more filled in, and Kakashi could feel muscle on his students body, that he knew hadn't been there earlier.

"Ugh...damn that was a rush," whispered Naruto tiredly.

"Naruto," spoke up Hiruzen, smiling softly down at the boy, "I'm glad to see you've returned to normal."

"Hehee," Naruto chuckled weakly, "Thanks Jiji."

"Naruto, what was that transformation? Was it Kyuubi?" questioned Kakashi worriedly.

Naruto shook his head weakly, before blinking and tilting it to the side in confusion. He stayed silent for a few seconds, before shrugging his shoulders and looking up at Kakashi and Hiruzen weakly, and began trying to explain what he understood.

"I remember darkness...Than there was this warmth inside me, all around me, filling me, changing me. I don't really understand where it came from, but it came with power and knowledge from deep within my very soul," said Naruto weakly, remembering the odd feelings.

"Gōitsu, a power of my Soul," Naruto closed his eyes, and placed his hand over his heart for a second, before continuing to speak, "The power to form a Union, my power, completely separate from Kyuubi."

Naruto looked up in confusion, "I...I don't know how I know that, I just...do?"

Shaking his head Naruto wondered if he was going crazy, how did he have a power inside himself that he didn't even know about. He would have assumed it was just some trick of the Kyuubi, if not for what he was experiencing at this moment. After his transformation had faded, he had still be able to see into those around him, if he had to put a word to what he was seeing, it would be...well...souls. He could see his Jiji's aged soul, and understand, he knew what his Jiji had experienced, what he'd gone through, and knew that Hiruzen cared for him.

"This power, I think it searched out the nearest thing to create this...Union...with, which in my case is Kyuubi. It took his power, and...merged it with me, I became me...but with Kyuubi as part of me, merged at our very souls," Naruto's eyes glazed over, recalling the incredible power and vast knowledge, before he shook his head, clearing his gaze and continuing.

"All of Kyuubi's power, all of his knowledge and experience, for those moments it was mine to command, to control. It's gone now, I can remember most of it, but I doubt I could do any of the things I remember," said Naruto with a small shrug.

With that, Naruto stopped speaking, no longer sure what to say. He didn't know how else to explain what had happened to him, but he instinctively knew that he could do it again. Gōitsu, the power to form a Union, it was within him now, to be called upon at will.

"Tell me Naruto, could you perform this...Gōitsu, again?" questioned Hiruzen

"Yes," answered Naruto immediately, before letting out a loud yawn.

"It almost sounds like a bloodline Hokage-Sama," Kakashi found himself saying with a wide eye.

Hiruzen nodded at the Jōnin, and looked down at his tired Grandson with an unreadable expression. That was exactly what it sounded like, a newly awakened bloodline that Naruto now wielded. The power to form a Union, he wondered if this power was limited to Kyuubi, or if it could go beyond that...not that it needed to. He wondered absently, what a Naruto with all the power and knowledge of Kyuubi could be capable of, and found himself palling.

Konoha...Destroyed with Pranks!

"It does sound possible, I suppose we'll need to do some tests," Hiruzen said thoughtfully, before blinking at his exhausted Grandson. "Perhaps tomorrow though," he suggested with a small chuckle, "After your team practice, please be on time Kakashi, I have a feeling there will be a lot to do."

"Yes! Hokage-Sama!" exclaimed Kakashi seriously.

"Also," Hiruzen paused for a moment, considering something before speaking, "Naruto, I don't think you should join your team for training tomorrow, not until we know more about what your apparent bloodline can do."

"Okay," Naruto yawned, "See you to-tomorrow Jiji," said Naruto, yawning and trying to extract himself from Kakashi's grip, "Kaka-Sensei, I need to go home."

"I'll get you there, don't worry Naru-chan!" Kakashi eye-smiled down at him, and Naruto was to tired to even complain bout the childish name, yawning he rested his head against his Sensei's Jōnin vest and nodded.

Kakashi blinked as Naruto began to snore right away, apparently the torture, awakening of a new bloodline, and than fighting transformed with Kyuubi was too much for the stamina god that was Naruto Uzumaki. Smiling under his mask he lifted Naruto into his arms, holding the surprising light boy against his chest and nodding at the Hokage, who was smiling at him knowingly. Kakashi blinked and than frowned at the Hokage, turning away he gathered his chakra, and as he vanished in a swirl of leaves as he used Shunshin, he heard Hiruzen's chuckling laughter echo behind him.

Reappearing inside Naruto's apartment, he carried his young charge to bed. Laying him down he gently pried Naruto's arms off of himself, surprised at the boy's strong grip, it took him a good five minutes to accomplish the task. Having succeeded, he tucked his student in and headed towards the door of the apartment, only to stop as a loud whimpering caught his attention. Turning around he wandered back to Naruto's bedroom, and saw the young Genin twisting and turning in his sleep, whimpering out loud in the grips of a nightmare.

_'Damn those idiots!' _snarled Kakashi in his mind, it was there fault a twelve year old was having such horrible nightmares.

For a moment the Jōnin wasn't sure what to do, but then his mind cast back on Minato, his Sensei. Whenever their team was together, he would make sure they all slept together like a family, and even spent time with them off missions. Minato had cared for them when they were sick, and held them when they needed comfort after killing. Kakashi's hand absently rose to his headband, resting there for a second before he nodded.

He would follow his Sensei's example, Team 7 would be a family, just like it's previous incarnation had been. Carefully Kakashi made his way to Naruto's bedside, and gently ran his hand through Naruto's spiky hair, hoping that would calm him. After a few minutes of stroking, it appeared that it was working, and Naruto began to calm in his sleep. Satisfied Kakashi stood and wandered back into the kitchen, grabbing a chair he dragged it into the bedroom and sat down in the corner.

Opening his pocket, he pulled out his book and began to read, keeping one eye on Naruto the whole time. It may have been a little late, finding the next true generation of Team 7, but he swore that he would make them great. He would prove to Minato that he had taken his lessons to heart, and when he met Rin and Obito in the afterlife, he would be able to join them with a clear heart. Smiling at the sleeping Naruto, he turned his full attention to his book.

A perverted giggle left his lips...

Naruto snored...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

It was early in the morning when Naruto finally awoke the next day, not because his alarm went off like normal, or the Land Lord had barged in demanding additional rent, but because he could smell food. His nose twitched faintly as a delicious scent filled his senses, and in an instant he was wide-awake, sitting up in his bed, eyes locked onto the doorway out of his bedroom. For a moment Naruto wasn't sure what to do, if someone had broken into his apartment...why would they be cooking?

Naruto stared and tried to expand his senses with chakra, something Iruka-Sensei had told him he should be capable of, especially with his vast chakra stores. As chakra flooded through him, Naruto felt a weird twitch behind his eyes, unaware as they glowed brightly and began to pulse an eerie white just as they had yesterday. To Naruto his senses simply sharpened, and he could see...and feel the presence of someone else inside his small apartment. It was strange, he could see an...outline, of the person standing in front of his stove, their outline was a faint blue, and in the center was a fiery white flame.

_'Iruka-Sensei obviously didn't explain this good enough...'_ Naruto thought absently.

Starring into the flame inside the person's outline, he was suddenly assaulted by a barrage of strange feelings and emotions. Naruto twitched and shuddered on his bed, they're were so many of them, it was difficult to make out what all of them meant. But at the moment two different emotions stood out the strongest, happiness, and...hope? Naruto wasn't sure, but he thought the second emotion might be hope, so lost in trying to figure it out, his eyes never left the flame inside the person's body.

Just as he was about to look away, having decided whoever was in his kitchen didn't mean him any harm, he found himself assaulted by images. Thousands of them flashed through his minds-eye, too fast to see, but somehow he understood them anyways, and instantly he knew who was in his kitchen, and much more besides. Kakashi-Sensei was in his kitchen, cooking breakfast for the two of them, the Jōnin having spent the night after making a big decision.

Naruto found himself confused, he wasn't sure what was happening to him, but he knew for certain, that enhancing his senses with chakra wasn't causing this. The emotions, those images, it was almost like he was seeing into Kakashi's soul...Naruto's eyes widened as he remembered the events of yesterday, and he swore. Pulling the chakra from his body he was relived when Kakashi's outline disappeared, and horrified when he discovered that looking into his Sensei's soul was exactly what he'd been doing.

He wasn't horrified by what he'd seen in his Sensei's soul, more that he'd done it without Kakashi's permission. A soul was something personal, he shouldn't be able to see someone's soul, let alone look into it...was this, was this part of his new bloodline? After seeing his Sensei's soul, Naruto knew a few things immediately, he could trust Kakashi, the Jōnin truly cared for Konoha and the new Team 7, and wanted them to be the best. But at the same time Kakashi had lived a difficult life, and had scars on his heart, and some so deep they reached his soul.

_'This...is this the power of Gōitsu? To see people's souls...maybe to see if I want to form a Union with them?' _Naruto's thoughts ran a mile a minute, but after seeing Kakashi's soul, he knew that he would form a Gōitsu with his Sensei in an instant. _'I need to talk with Jiji, we really need to find out what my bloodline can do...'_

Climbing out of bed, Naruto pushed himself to his feet and stumbled a little. Blinking he straightened himself and looked down at his body in confusion, he apparently hadn't noticed last night, but the after-effects of the transformation must have changed him. He was taller, a little of his body-fat seemed to have faded away, and he felt stronger as well. The change wasn't much, but it seemed to be enough to throw of his balance for a moment, but as Naruto took a step, he knew it wouldn't be too difficult to adjust.

Heading over to his closet, Naruto looked down at his torn and bloodied clothes, and with an annoyed frown tugged them all off. Throwing open his closet Naruto was momentarily blinded by all the orange, same as he was every single day, even he wasn't used to his stupid jumpsuit. Reaching out for one he paused before grabbing it, he was a Genin now, why did he have to continue to hide? The Civilian Council no longer had command over him, so he didn't have as much to fear, and he knew that not only would Jiji stand by him, but he was sure, down to his very soul, that Kakashi-Sensei would as well.

Digging into the very bottom of his dresser, Naruto found an outfit he'd bought from a trader when they visited Konoha. Not knowing about Kyuubi, and having yet to be threatened by the other villagers or members of the Council, they'd let him buy their products happily. Pulling on some underwear, Naruto grabbed the dark blue combat jeans and pulled them on, following up with a pair of equally dark blue shinobi-style shoes, rather than the normal sandals. With that Naruto dug under his pile of black shirts, and pulled out a dark orange one, pulling it on he smiled at the mirror in the closet door.

_'Much better...hehee, I wonder what Kakashi-Sensei will think of this!' _

Chuckling Naruto closed his closet with a flick of his wrists, and grabbed his headband, tying it around his forehead he made his way into the kitchen. Silent footsteps allowing him to get within striking range of Kakashi, before he deliberately made some noise. Kakashi turned around in surprise, his one visible eye widening faintly, before he eye-smiled and patted Naruto on the head, ruffling his hair. Naruto stared up at Kakashi in surprise, before blushing faintly and mumbling out a "Mornin."

"Yo!" returned Kakashi cheerfully, "You're pretty sneaky for such a loud kid, I almost missed you walking up on me."

Indeed, Kakashi was amazed by Naruto's small display of stealth skills, but as he thought about it, he found it wasn't very surprising. Naruto had gone around in a bright orange jumpsuit, and managed to dodge, hide, and escape from fully trained Anbu, well he was still an academy student. Smiling down at the young Jinchūriki, Kakashi was happy to note that he didn't look depressed or anything, and seemed to be taking yesterday's events in silence.

"Yah, I'm pretty good at stealth, it's my highest skill-set," admitted Naruto easily to his Sensei, "I read about a Jōnin in the Mist who used a Silent-Killing Technique, it's what I'd like to learn eventually."

"Really? I know a few basics from my days in Anbu, I'll help you get started when the team moves onto styles and techniques, for now well focus on teamwork and Taijutsu though, a good foundation is needed to grow strong," Kakashi's voice was firm, brooking not arguments or whines about wanting to learn Ninjutsu.

"That's good," said Naruto immediately, surprising Kakashi, "Mizuki was our Taijutsu teacher, taught me a bogus style, I can't even perform the Cookie-Cutter Academy Forms properly Sensei."

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed, and he smiled coldly under his mask. His fist clenched around the book he was reading in his left hand, and the handle of the frying pan he was using cracked before he came to his senses. Ignoring the damage he'd done to the pan, he continued to cook, nodding back at Naruto and considering what style would suit the boy best.

"I'll need to see you fight more, but I know a few Taijutsu styles and I have a...friend...that could help as a last resort," decides Kakashi, praying that he won't need to get Gai's help to aide Naruto. "Also, I like the new outfit, decided to forgo the Jumpsuit?"

"I'm a ninja now, Civilian Council can't bother me nearly as much," said Naruto, explaining his reasons for the jumpsuit subtlety at the same time.

Understanding, Kakashi nodded and turning around headed over to the table, scooping a generous helping of bacon, eggs, sausage, and hash-browns onto Naruto's plate. Than he moved over to his own plate and filled it with the remainder, putting the pan in the sink he sat down with Naruto, and eye-smiled.

"Eat up, cute little Genin need all their strength," he teased.

Naruto grumbled a little about being called 'cute', but quickly got to work on the delicious looking breakfast. He wasn't a very talented cook, so even if the stores would have let him buy food, he doubted anything he made would look this nice. Naruto swallowed another forkful of eggs, and decided that his food would likely taste worse then this as well, Kakashi was a pretty talented cook. This might even be better than instant ramen...but not Ichiraku, that was way better!

"This is pretty good Kakashi-Sensei, I'm surprise you can cook with just one eye," Naruto teased his Jōnin-Sensei back, absently polishing off the rest of his plate.

"You just aren't talented like me little Naru-Chan," teased Kakashi right back.

Naruto chuckled and nodded, pushing out his chair he climbed back to his feet. "I think I'm going to go do some shopping, what time should I meet you at Jiji's office?" he asked, well grabbing his supply pouch and attaching it to his waist. Looking up he met Kakashi's single eye, that was once more doing his Sensei's eye-smile thing.

"A little after noon Naruto, we won't be doing much today, hard to work on teamwork if we're missing a member," answered Kakashi with a chuckle.

Naruto nodded, "Alrighty, see you than Kaka-Sensei!" Smiling Naruto pulled open his window, and jumped out to the roof below.

Kakashi watched him go as he slowly finished off his breakfast, he'd only been in Naruto's apartment for one night, and already he'd noticed things that worried him. Naruto's apartment was mostly broken and destroyed, the room was almost falling apart, the walls seemed to have been repainted countless times, and Kakashi's sharp senses could pick up the faint smell of dried blood. He was almost certain that Naruto had been attacked in his apartment, which begged the question of how his attackers had gotten inside?

Heading over to the window to follow Naruto out, he was supplied his answer as a 'click' echoed through the apartment, followed by the door starting to swing open. Chakra flowing Kakashi weaved a faint Genjutsu around himself, hiding himself from view as the door was swung open all the way, a beefy-fat man pulling a key from the doorknob. Kakashi was about to lower his Genjutsu and confront the man, but stopped as he stepped aside, a flood of civilians slowly entering the apartment.

"The demon should still be asleep, I'm sorry, but this is all I can do," said the beefy-fat man, pocketing the key with a cruel smile.

"You've done plenty, we'll finish off the Demon, thank you Horatio," said one of the civilians.

Kakashi watched as Horatio closed the door, and another 'click' echoed through the apartment. He put it together right away, Horatio was obviously the Land Lord, and he'd just unlocked Naruto's apartment well his student was supposed to be asleep. His gloved hand trembled with rage, and with a quick Shunshin he appeared outside the doorway, hand wrapping around Horatio's throat. With a snarl he threw the fat man through the closed door, and back into the apartment, right into the blood-thirsty mob that had come for his student.

Stepping through the shattered remains of the door, he glared with his one visible eye, and held up his right hand. Horatio stumbled to his feet, and opened his mouth his words left as he, along with the rest of the gathered mob stared in horror as the Jōnin's lighting covered hand. Kakashi stepped forward, pulled his hand back and prepared to stab it through Horatio, he was threw with the villagers actions towards Naruto, from now he would be as harsh as he wished.

**BEEP!BEEP!BEEP!**

Kakashi paused as Naruto's alarm started going off, with a furious shake of his hand, he struggled with himself and let his jutsu collapse. Glaring at the mob he stepped to the side and pointed out the door, in a tone colder than winter he spoke, "OUT!" The crowd ran past him, flowing out of the apartment like water, until finally just Horatio was left following them out quickly. Kakashi wasn't having any of that, hand snapping out he grabbed Horatio and pulled him close, glaring with his single eye he unleashed his Killing Intent on the fat civilian.

"If you ever do something like that again, I'll **KILL **you," he snarled darkly, before throwing Horatio out of the apartment.

Watching the fat, weeping man run away, Kakashi breathed slowly to calm himself. Putting his hands together he surged his chakra and created a single Kage Bunshin, ordering it to pack all of Naruto's supplies he headed out of the apartment. Wandering down to the front desk, he politely informed the terrified Horatio that Naruto wouldn't be returning, broke the desk in half when Horatio tried to claim money for damages Naruto had caused, and walked out of the apartment complex feeling happier than before.

His clone appeared beside him, pockets full of sealing scrolls, and he sent it on to follow Naruto around town, "When he's done shopping, take him to the house, he can live with me." Orders given, the Kage Bunshin vanished to go observe Naruto, and Kakashi made his way casually through town, towards the training ground. He'd promised the Hokage he wouldn't be late, so with a brisk walk he passed through the edge of the town, and paused, starring into a shop window at the new copy of Icha Icha Paradise.

Surely an hour wouldn't hurt...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money writing or posting this fanfiction.

**Chapter 2 – Changes Inside and Out**

_He'd promised the Hokage he wouldn't be late, so with a brisk walk he passed through the edge of the town, and paused, starring into a shop window at the new copy of Icha Icha Paradise._

_Surely an hour wouldn't hurt..._

/ / / / /

Naruto hopped across the roofs casually as he made his way towards the edge of town, far away from the mercantile center of the town, to the lesser known shops. It had taken him months of looking, before he'd heard mention of a new shop setting up in town, he'd gone immediately. It was a small family-run shinobi supply store, they didn't have much money or a very large inventory, only the basics, and replied on custom orders to make the most money.

Naruto had spent a few hours everyday helping them, using the knowledge he'd gotten from various visiting traders of where to find good supplies, the type of orders people liked to make, the things they should keep in stock, and various other things. They had been happy for the help, and had ignored everything the villagers told them about him, even throwing out a member of the Civilian Council when they tried to stop them from serving him.

Their attempt had failed when Naruto went to the Hokage, who endorsed the store and personally started visiting it for his supplies and orders. Soon other ninja followed the Hokage's views, and the small store became more and more visited, making more and more money. But the Father and Son duo refused to move into a bigger store, and kept their small shack at the edge of the village, serving only those that came looking for them, or were recommended.

Naruto dropped down in front of the small shop, his eyes immediately locking onto the smoke rising from the roof-less building to the right, a small forge that Ventus used to make the order's they received. Heading right into the small store, he waved cheerfully at Sora, who ran right over to him as he entered, drawing him into a hug. Sora was eleven, a year younger then Naruto, and they'd bonded over the time he spent in the store, becoming good friends.

"Naruto! I didn't except to see you for a few weeks yet," said Sora cheerfully, spiky brown hair matted down with sweat.

Naruto reached forward and ruffled Sora's hair, chuckling, "You've been in the forge with your Dad I see, he making anything cool today?" Naruto couldn't help but question, enjoying hearing and seeing the strange things Ventus forged.

"I dunno, he kicked me out after finishing a set of hollow kunai for some crazy looking Kunoichi chick!" exclaimed Sora, throwing his arms out wide as he began to make furious hand motions, "It was crazy, she tried to stab me when I snuck up on her, and when Dad blocked her kunai a snack leapt out of her sleeve and tried to bite him!"

"Wow, sounds serious," said Naruto, nodding his head to all of Sora's wild hand motions. "Well, I'm gonna grab some supplies, and then can I check the backroom?"

"Of course, I'll open it up for you Naruto," said Sora happily, rushing away towards the back of the shop.

Naruto watched him for a second before heading down the short aisles of the small shop, he grabbed a few packets of kunai, a roll of explosive notes, some more ninja wire, a vial of soldier pills, and a small container of food pills. Gathering it all he carried it over to the counter and put it down in front of Sora, who was sitting on a stool and reading a manga. Nodding at him he made his way to the back of the store, through the small door and into the large backroom.

Black Raven didn't only make weapons, they also designed clothes, and imported special stuff from the other villages. The back room was locked, and only people either Sora or Ventus let in could get to the special equipment, clothes, and gear. Glancing around Naruto made his way to the right, where all the clothing was located. Browsing up and down the wall, he looked to see if anything looked interesting, he blinked when he found two interesting looking things.

Reaching out he picked up an odd looking metal gauntlet, it appeared to be linked together with chains, it wasn't a single smooth glove, but more like a thin metal shell that would go over a glove. The fingers of the gauntlet were tipped with claws, and Naruto found himself drawn to it, grabbing it he picked up a thin leather gloves, a awesome dark orange, to go under it. With that he reached up and grabbed the other thing that had caught his attention, a long hooded cloak, it was an odd ash color, like it had been in a fire and charred or something.

Finished with the clothing section, Naruto wandered around the rest of the backroom, searching for a weapon. Yesterday when he'd been merged with Kyuubi, he'd been able to see all the Demon Fox's memories, all it's knowledge and abilities. It had rapidly started to fade once the transformation ended though, and now Naruto simply had vague and cloudy memories of what he'd seen and felt. One thing he remembered though, was Kyuubi had a human form, and had been around a long time, learning different things.

Though he couldn't remember any of Kyuubi's knowledge, a desire had risen in him after seeing his memories, and knowing Kyuubi's deadly techniques yesterday. He'd been forced to fight with his clawed hands, using Kyuubi's deadly mix of ancient Taijutsu styles, but Taijutsu wasn't the human-form Kyuubi's forte, no, Kyuubi preferred using bladed weapons of all kinds. Some of the techniques he'd seen were so amazing, and now Naruto couldn't help but want to wield some type of blade.

Not only would it set him apart from the other Genin, none of whom used any sort of weapon, but if he ever merged with Kyuubi again, he'd have a blade available. But as he wandered the back of the shop, he found himself shaking his head in disappoint, everything was top quality of course, but nothing was really calling out to him to use. Clothing in hand Naruto left the backroom, putting it down on the counter he smiled at Sora.

"Find everything you wanted Naruto?" the slightly younger youth questioned, closing his manga and starting to add Naruto's purchases together.

"Yep, for the moment at least," responded Naruto with a smile.

"You only got clothes from the back room, I thought Dad told you that you could have a free weapon from it after you became a Genin," said Sora a little confused, even as he started to bag Naruto's purchases.

"Yah, nothing really called out to me though," explained Naruto with a shrug.

Sora nodded and handed Naruto a bag full of the supplies and clothes he'd grabbed, waving him off with a smile, "See you next time Naruto."

Naruto nodded at Sora and headed out of the small shop, exciting the door he stopped before he could run into the person that had appeared in front of him. Not really enjoying being close to people, Naruto stepped back, so he could put some difference between them, and get a good look at whoever was in front of him.

"Ah good Naruto your here that's great come with me!"

Naruto had no time to react as a gloved hand wrapped around his wrist, and started effortlessly pulling him along behind the person he now recognized as Ventus. Sora's dad wasn't very bulky or muscled, he was actually very thin, and his muscles were barely visible, he stood at about six feet, and had bright golden blond hair.

Naruto was used to Ventus's weird behavior by now, the rapid speech without pauses, and for the man to decide what other people needed before they asked for anything. He was also used to the man's unnatural strength, when he'd been grabbed Naruto had reinforced himself with chakra to pull away, but still Ventus was casually pulling him along. They were almost at the forge before Naruto finally regained his senses, and began following Ventus of his own violation.

"Ventus, what's so important? I thought you were working on an order?" questions Naruto as Ventus pulled him through the door into the roofless forge.

"I was but I'm done already I was making something really special it came to me months ago and I've been working on it when I had time I finally finished it last night!" Ventus's words almost flowed together as he spoke.

Letting go of Naruto's wrist, Ventus rushed to the back of the forge, and picked up a long wrapped bundle from the corner. Rubbing his wrist Naruto watched as Ventus carefully put it down on the nearby anvil, and than smiled at him, motioning him to open it. With a casually raised eyebrow, Naruto reached forward and untied the string holding the bundle together, before carefully unwrapping it, wondering what Ventus was going to show him this time.

It was a sword, but it was unlike any Naruto had ever seen, not a katana, ninjatō, tantō, or any of the normal swords he saw carried around by various older Nin. It didn't even look like the weird swords Naruto had seen Kyuubi using in the foxes memories, though, it did resemble those thicker, straight swords he'd seen those heavily armored opponents use. Putting those thoughts aside, Naruto more closely examined the strange looking blade.

He started with the hilt, it was thinner then what he was used to seeing, made of a bronze-like metal which folded in on itself multiple times circularly, in a very intricate design. The hilt was curved slightly, and wrapped with black leather around the center, obviously so it wouldn't slide out of it's wielders hand. At the crown of the hilt, surrounded by spider-webbing metal, was a clear crystal or stone of some kind.

The hilt flowed into the strangest guard Naruto had ever seen, it reminded him of an ouroboros he'd seen in a book once, but with dragon's instead of snakes, and made of the same off-colored bronze. Three of them circled, each eating the other in an amazing flowing design, but it was the center of the ouroboros that really drew attention, metal flowed into the center into a thinner circle, that was carved with hundreds of tiny symbols, that Naruto thought might be seals.

The guard flowed seamlessly into the hilt, two black pieces of metal on either flat side of the blade, before carving upwards into a long silver-metal blade. The blade was perfectly straight, thicker than a katana, with a sharp, deadly looking edge on one side, and a perfectly smooth edge on the other. The blade had nothing on it, and was perfectly smooth, the odd silver-metal glittering against the fires of the forge.

"It's...amazing," whispered Naruto to Ventus in awe.

Ventus smiled brightly, and clapped his hand down on Naruto's shoulder, "I'm glad you like it I made it for you after-all I know you'll use it well now get going you probably have a team meeting you're going to be late for."

Ventus re-wrapped the bundle in a flash, dropped it in Naruto's protesting hands, and ushered him out of the forge all before Naruto had a chance to do much more than stutter a weak, "N-No, Wait, I can't..." before the door to the forge slammed shut in his face. Naruto stared at the door for a few minutes, before slowing looking down at the bundle in his arms, a brilliant smile stretching out across his face.

"Fine!" shouted Naruto through the door at Ventus, "Everyone will get to see your amazing sword Ventus, in the hands of their Hokage!"

The sound of metal hitting metal echoed out of the forge...

and Naruto left, a wide smile nearly permanent on his face...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

**Two Hours Later...**

Naruto sat on the fluffy mattress of his new bed, starring at his new bedroom with wide eyes, and trying to come to terms with what was happening. He'd finished all the shopping he wanted to do in the village, and was carrying everything home, a few shadow clones trailing behind him with the stuff he hadn't been able to carry by himself. When Kakashi had suddenly appeared in front of him, and told him in a deadpan voice that he no longer had a room at the apartment building.

Naruto had been crushed, for all of seven seconds, before his Sensei had told him he would be living with him now. Following Kakashi, they'd arrived at a small house by itself, surrounded by forest on all sides, off the beaten path of the village. Kakashi had unlocked the door, told him to make himself at home, and that his room was last door on the right, before vanishing in a puff of smoke, letting Naruto know it was just a shadow clone.

This brings us back to Naruto's current location, sitting on his new bed in the guestroom of Kakashi's house, that was now his bedroom. Boxes, and what he recognized as sealing scrolls, littered the ground of the room, containing all of Naruto's personal belongings and supplies. Glancing around the small bare bedroom, Naruto wasn't surprised to see that it was at least three times larger than his apartment bedroom, it had a large closet, a trunk, a desk and chair, a nightstand, and a large bed, but was otherwise bare.

"I guess I better unpack," mumbled Naruto to himself softly.

Kneeling on the floor Naruto reached for the first box, riffling through it for anything important, clothes, shuriken, academy books, and his alarm clock were in this box. Pulling out his clock Naruto put it down on the nightstand, and paused, starring at it for a good few minutes.

"I'M GONNA BE LATE!"

With a loud shout Naruto jumped to his feet and started to run from the room, only to stop suddenly in the doorway, feet slipping on the hardwood floor before he steadied himself. Stepping back into the room, Naruto figured that being a little late wouldn't hurt, and if he was going to finally prove himself as a ninja, he needed to look his best. What better time to try out the new stuff he'd bought, then when testing his new apparent bloodline?

Naruto riffled through the back of supplies he'd gotten from Black Raven, and pulled out the strange claw-gauntlet and cloak. Pulling on the thin dark orange glove he'd bought, he quickly examined the claw, and slowly worked on attaching it. The claw unlocked down the wrist, and locked in place around his own, the claws slipping over his fingers comfortably.

Opening and closing his hand, Naruto stared at the deadly looking claw with a bright grin, it was definitely an unusual piece of equipment, and he couldn't wait to start figuring out ways to use it. With the claw firmly attached to his left hand, Naruto pulled out the cloak he'd purchased, and opened it up to pull on, pausing as he noticed an odd piece of cloth in the middle. The cloak hung open all the way down, except for the very top, where a thin piece of cloth stretched up from the neck, and held the two sides together.

A little confused, Naruto eventually pulled on the cloak, and slowly fiddled with the piece of strange cloth. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he figured out what it was, the cloth was some type of face-mask, designed to be part of the cloak, likely to help hide the wearers face when they pulled up the hood. Grinning brightly Naruto did both, and quickly rushed to the nearby mirror, starring into it he couldn't help but grin brightly, you could barely tell it was him.

A faint clump of blond hair stuck out the hood, but his whisker marks were covered, only his bright eyes were on display, standing out in bright contrast against the shadow the hood cast over his face. Leaving his hood and face-mask up, Naruto headed over to the wrapped bundle resting on his bed, unwrapping it he lifted out the sword Ventus had crafted for him, it's sheath was a deep midnight black, and reinforced with the same odd-bronze metal at certain points to protect it.

Pushing open his cloak, Naruto threaded the sheath through the nearly invisible loop at the side of his pants, making it look like the sheath was actually hanging in the air at his waist. With careful hands he slid his new sword into the sheath, before lowering his cloak into place, the ornate hilt the only visible part of his new blade remaining. With his preparations complete, Naruto rushed out of the apartment and towards the Hokage's Tower.

As he jumped from branch to branch, Naruto couldn't help but wonder why Kakashi was being so nice to him, he knew the Jōnin didn't hate him like most of the village, but still...Kakashi was going out of his way to help him, and Naruto was a little weary, the last time someone asides from Jiji or Ventus offered him meaningful help, he'd been betrayed. But for some reason, he knew that Kakashi wouldn't do the same thing, it might be his new bloodline, or the aftereffects of seeing Kakashi's soul, but he knew that the white-haired Jōnin meant him no harm.

Jumping from the last tree, to the nearest roof, Naruto casually jumped across them as he made his way to the tower. Absently he noticed that the ninja he passed by on the roof were giving him weird looks, a few of them looked a bit suspicious as well, and more then once a few of them tried to follow him, only to get lost as Naruto jumped between the shadows of the roofs. Naruto had always known he was stealthy, but this new, non-orange outfit appeared to be making him even more so, and he loved it!

Naruto dropped down in front of the Hokage's tower, walking past the two Chūnin guards at the entrance without a word. Making his way up the tower he found himself in front of the Hokage's office in no time at all, and quickly pulled open the door and walked inside, ignoring the secretary as she screamed at him loudly. Jiji had given him permission to enter his office at anytime, after a series of new secretaries had blocked him from entering, leaving him without food, money or shelter in his younger years.

Slamming the door in her face, he turned around, and was greeted with the sight of an amused Hokage, sitting behind a massive stack of paperwork, pipe held loose in one hand, official stamp in the other. "Hey Jiji!" Naruto exclaimed happily, wandering forward and flopping down in the only chair in front of the Hokage, "I can see your pretty busy, should I come back, for whatever we're gonna do, later to give you some more time?"

"Welcome Naruto, I'm glad to see you've arrived without any significant problems," said Hiruzen, the relief in his voice easily recognizable, before his eyes glazed across the paperwork in front of him. "But I'm afraid coming back later wouldn't make a difference...damn paperwork!"

Naruto chuckled quietly to himself, well aware of his adoptive grandfather's annoyance with the massive amount of paperwork he always seemed to have. Relaxing into the chair, Naruto looked across the Hokage's large desk, and smiled at the man behind it. Folding his arms in front of him, Naruto clasped his right hand, with his clawed left hand, enjoying the surprised look on his Jiji's face at the sight of such a unique weapon.

"So..." Naruto trailed off, smirking wide, "I bet you a full meal at Ichiraku that Kakashi won't be here for another two hours at least Jiji!"

Hiruzen chuckled, "I'm afraid you'd loose the bet my boy," pausing he sucked in a healthy draw of smoke from his pipe, and continued, "because Kakashi is already here."

"Yo!" Kakashi's voice echoed from the window to their right.

Naruto and Hiruzen turned at the same time, Naruto in surprise, and Hiruzen in annoyance, honestly, why couldn't his ninja use the door like everyone else? Sure enough, Kakashi was kneeling in the previously closed window, book held in front of him as he read from it cheerfully, eye smiling and waving at Naruto and Hiruzen at the same time. Naruto's eyebrow twitched faintly, and the urge to unleash his super pervert crushing technique increased astronomically.

"Glad you could join us Hatake-san," said Hiruzen, speaking quietly, eyes narrowed at the Jōnin.

"Mah, sorry if you hate to wait Hokage-sama," said Kakashi lazily, closing his book and slipping it into his pouch. "I'm here now though...so, how are we going to begin?" Kakashi's visible eyebrow raised in question.

"Well first of all, it won't be here we do the testing," informed Hiruzen as he stood to his feet, robes billowing faintly from the open-windowed breeze. "Kakashi, we'll be going to Training Ground 0, you know the way correct?"

Kakashi nodded, and quickly vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving a faintly confused Naruto behind with the Hokage. Whom was currently running a bloody finger over a part of the wall, which suddenly began to glow, revealing a small hollow area. Naruto didn't see what the Hokage took out, but the next second the wall was filled in again, and the Hokage had put a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Brace yourself," warned the Hokage, before he used Shunshin.

Naruto braced just in time, the odd sensation of being pulled along faster than he'd ever moved before filled him, before he found himself beside the Hokage, in the middle of a large forested clearing. It took him a second to regain his senses, just in time to spot a few leaves fall to the ground in front of him, before he caught sight of Kakashi a few feet away, laying a bundle of covered supplies down on the ground.

"Welcome to my private training ground Naruto, it's not listed in the archives, and the only path to it is through an underground passage beneath the Hokage Mansion, otherwise you need to Shunshin," explained Hiruzen softly.

"It's pretty impressive Jiji, I've never seen such an awesome looking training ground!" Naruto's voice was filled with awe, and his head whipped back and forth to take in all of the visible training ground.

It was even more impressive than Training Ground 7, forest surrounded the clearing on all sides, and Naruto's slightly above average hearing and senses let him pick up the flowing of a river, and the dry rocky smell that only comes from mountain-style areas. As his gaze wandered around the clearing, Kakashi and Hiruzen piled their supplies together, and began to quietly discuss how to test Naruto for a bloodline neither of them had ever heard of, or seen before.

"Naruto," called Hiruzen, waiting till Naruto turned towards him before continuing, "I'd like you to refresh me on what you know about Gōitsu, and anything you've experienced that's been different today."

"Alright," said Naruto with a nod, pausing and collecting his thoughts before he began to speak. "When I was being tortured, I felt this strange warmth inside of myself, and I was filled with the knowledge of a power I possessed. It slipped out of my mouth before I had even thought about the consequences, and for a moment I saw an image of a strange tailed-man cross my mind, before I awoke changed."

"I don't know how else to describe it, asides from...fusion, I fused with Kyuubi's soul within myself, gaining all of his power, all of his knowledge, all of his memories and experience. For those moments, he was part of me, I was Kyuubi, and Kyuubi was me, we were part of each other, perfectly bonded at the center."

Naruto paused, trying to recall everything he'd felt...

"His personality merged with my own, neither overpowered the other, and I felt...normal, not changed or anything, to me, that was how I was meant to be. I didn't hate humans, but I felt they were unworthy of my respect for how they acted among themselves. It was an interesting experience, but after it ended, everything quickly began to fade away."

Naruto stopped again for a second, once more trying to look back on the memories and experiences he'd been merged with, but they flew away like oil in water. Now that he was no longer fused with Kyuubi, it was like it hadn't happened, only vague memories remained.

"I know that Kyuubi used a sword in his human form, but I couldn't replicate or explain it anymore, I no longer remember. When Kyuubi's soul separated from mine, everything began to fade, and now it's like a distant memory, or waking from a dream the next morning. I know inside myself that I can do it again, but I also know that I won't be able to use any abilities from the...fusion...now that I am just myself."

Naruto stopped, looking up at Kakashi and Hiruzen, who were both looking at him, contemplative looks on their faces...or under their mask as was Kakashi's case. Both of them were thinking of what Naruto had just said, and imagining the use of such an ability. Even if it only worked when Naruto was bonded with Kyuubi, it was still an amazing thing to gain the powers of the Nine-Tailed-Fox for the few moments Naruto had been granted them, and if he could do it again...

"Anything else?" questioned Hiruzen curiously

"Yes," Naruto paused for a moment, trying to think of how to say it, before deciding to just say it like it was, "I can see souls, and when doing so I can see glimpses of that person's life, and understand them."

"What!?" exclaimed Kakashi and Hiruzen sat the same time, in shocked awe.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know how else to describe it, as seeing someone's soul."

"I see..." Hiruzen trailed off, and his curiosity urged him to ask, "How many souls have you seen?"

"Yours, Kakashi-Sensei's, and that Ninja that tried to kill me yesterday," admitted Naruto a little uncomfortably, remembering the intensely personal moment of seeing all three souls, and the things he'd felt after doing so.

"Okay...so I have a few questions Naruto," said Hiruzen softly, before listing a few of the questions currently plaguing him, "What did seeing my Soul tell you about me? Do you think your ability to perform Gōitsu is related to it? Can you perform Gōitsu with Kyuubi right now?"

Naruto thought about it for a good few minutes, before opening his mouth and answering softly, "Your soul was warm Jiji, it glowed with kindness, I could tell that you cared greatly for the village, and the only bonds you valued more were you families, and me..." Naruto blushed a little shyly, before continuing, "Your age is starting to catch up to you, but your soul still burns strong with resolve, and most of all, I can trust you, you won't ever turn against me."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "That's mostly what I can describe, there was more, just from the small glimpse I got...but it's hard to really describe it, most of what I saw seemed to be translated in me, simply an instinctive combination of feelings in my soul," he explained carefully, before nodding resolutely, "Which means it's definitely related to Gōitsu, which has to do with manipulating my soul if my guess is right."

"As uh, for your last question Jiji...I'd have to try," said Naruto...pausing before nodding surely.

Kakashi stared at his young student in surprise, paying full attention to the conversation that was going on. If what Naruto was telling them was right, his bloodline could be incredible, the ability to see people's souls...was it only limited to those directly influenced by him? Or could he do it to anyone? If so, did what he witnessed, would it help them discover spies? Or would it simply tell Naruto he couldn't trust them?

Not only that, but the ability to fuse with Kyuubi's soul, how would that influence Naruto in the future? Would he come to be more used to that form, merged with Kyuubi's soul for the power and abilities it gave him? How long could his young student remained fused? Did it have a time-limit, did the ability even use chakra? Kakashi had so many questions, and still had so few answers. Was Naruto's new ability limited to just Kyuubi, or could his student possess the capacity to fuse with other people...and if so, how did they discover who he could do it with?

Hiruzen was currently just as lost in his thoughts, but also awed by what Naruto had witnessed inside of his soul, as he thought about it, nothing Naruto had said was wrong. It was an amazing, and at the same time, horrifying ability for someone to posses, the ability to see the soul. How would using such an ability influence Naruto, and could the ability be wrong? What would happen if Naruto saw a truly evil soul, would it harm him, would he be able to act if nothing was wrong? He had so many questions, but he didn't even know if he wanted the answers, let alone how to ask them in the first place.

"I suppose..." Hiruzen trailed off, a little uncomfortable with what he was going to suggest, "We should see if you can perform Gōitsu with Kyuubi once more, it will determine the other things we need to test."

"That's a good ide"

"Before that," said Kakashi suddenly, cutting Naruto off, "What's with the new getup and equipment Naru-chan?"

"Don't call me that Cyclops!" shouted Naruto, eye twitching in annoyance before he calmed himself, breathing heavily and recognizing the question as something worth answering, "I told you I want to master Silent Killing, the cloak is to better hide myself, it even came with a hood and mask...and you gotta admit it makes me look pretty creepy!"

Naruto chuckled and smiled underneath his mask, before looking up at Kakashi and Hiruzen, making his hood fall into the perfect position. His face was completely shadowed, his mask covering the bottom, only a tiny portion of his hair was visible, and his eyes glowed eerily in the shadow cast by his cloaks hood. Letting out a dark cackle, Naruto raised his left hand in front of him, pointing it at Kakashi, clawed digit glittering menacingly.

"Mah mah, you've certainly proved your point Naru-chan," said Kakashi with a sweat-drop, surprised at his hyper students ability to look menacing and deadly, for a minute he thought he was starring down a Hunter-Nin, not his cute Genin.

"Hehe, anyways, as for the weapons I have a few reasons," began Naruto, smiling excitedly, "None of my other classmates use weapons, the claw is just so cool, I can't even begin to imagine the awesome things I could do with it, and the sword...Ventus made it for me apparently...without prompting."

Hiruzen and Kakashi both nodded, having both experienced Ventus's odd way of making weapons for his customers without them ordering anything. They also couldn't help but sweat-drop a little at Naruto's reason for buying the claw though, honestly, cause it was cool...

"Indeed," chuckled Hiruzen, brushing off his slight surprise with how menacing Naruto could appear, "Now if we could proceed, could you show us Gōitsu please."

Naruto nodded, "I'll try." He said softly, before making his way away from Kakashi and Hiruzen.

Wandering to the middle of the clearing, a good few meters away from his Sensei and Jiji, he looked over at them both, unable to help but feel a little worried. What if he couldn't do it again, maybe it wasn't a bloodline at all, what if Kyuubi had simply been controlling him? Naruto put those thoughts out of his head, at the sight of the two smiling faces looking at him reassuringly, and slowly closed his eyes, breathing in and out deeply.

"Goitsu..."

Naruto felt power flow through him, in his mind's eye he caught a glimpse of two shadowy silhouettes, before a third blasted past them, full of color and life. Recognizing Kyuubi's human form, Naruto reached out to it, and triggered the transformation. Power flooded through him, his body began to change, memories filled his mind, abilities and knowledge rose to the forefront.

and than a massive backlash of chakra struck him...

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto screamed out in pain.

The transformation reversed immediately, and Naruto collapsed to the ground...

A dark echoing chuckle filled his mind, **"Foolish Nigen, my Powers are not yours to toy with..."**

Naruto slipped into unconsciousness...

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /


End file.
